Kukla's Korner Hockey

One reason veteran defenseman Adam Foote wanted out of Columbus was that he wanted to win, and in the NHL that means — at the very least — making the playoffs.

A little more than a year after he was traded back to the Avalanche from the Blue Jackets, Columbus is in the thick of a fight for its first postseason berth and Colorado is in last place in the Western Conference, destined to be done playing when the regular season ends April 12.

Oops.

“It’s tough,” Foote said Wednesday. “I don’t think anyone likes it. We have to keep trying to be better.

“You have to deal with it, and there are two ways to do it. You can mope around or keep working hard.”